Princess Astrid of Norway, the last surviving child of King Olav V, died on Friday at the age of 94, just two days after attending the state funeral of her brother, King Harald V, in Oslo. The Norwegian royal palace confirmed her death, with the new king, Haakon VIII — Harald's son — expressing profound grief. "Throughout her long life, Princess Astrid represented the Royal House in a warm and dutiful manner," Haakon said, calling her passing "a great loss."

Harald V, who reigned for more than 35 years, died on 28 August aged 89, making Haakon VIII Norway's new monarch. Harald's funeral on Wednesday drew dozens of European royals and heads of state, including the Prince of Wales, three Nordic kings, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Thousands lined the streets of Oslo as a procession carried Harald's coffin from the royal palace to Oslo Cathedral, where a service was held before a private ceremony at Akershus Fortress — the burial site of the Norwegian royal family. Despite her frail health, Astrid attended both the cathedral service and the private ceremony, though she did not join the royal procession on foot. It was her final public appearance.

Astrid, born on 12 February 1932, had played a central role in Norwegian royal life for decades. When her mother, Crown Princess Märtha, died in 1954, Astrid — then just 22 — assumed the role of first lady, accompanying her father, King Olav V, to official engagements for 14 years until Harald's marriage in 1968. In 1961, she married Johan Martin Ferner, a Norwegian sailor who had won silver at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics; the couple had five children. Ferner died in 2015. In recent months Astrid's health had declined significantly — she had been hospitalised for heart problems and received a pacemaker, and was treated for pneumonia in March — making her attendance at Harald's funeral all the more poignant.

Her five children — Cathrine, Benedikte, Alexander, Elisabeth, and Carl-Christian Ferner — paid tribute in a joint statement: "Dear mother, dear Princess Astrid, thank you for being the best mother we could have wished for. Throughout your life, you were there for us with love and wisdom, warmth and good humour. Thank you for all the wonderful memories. You will always hold a special place in our hearts."

Norway will bury Astrid at state expense, and flags are to be flown at half-mast across the country on the day of her funeral, the date of which has not yet been announced. Her death closes a generation of the Norwegian royal family that lived through the Nazi occupation of Norway in 1940 — Astrid fled with her family as a child and spent the war years in the United States at the invitation of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, only returning home in June 1945. King Haakon VIII described her as "a vital support for King Harald and the rest of the family," adding: "She was not afraid to express her opinion, and we learned a great deal from her."